Taking for granted that we have been able to get rid of Tagalog as our national language and have been able to replace it as the medium of instruction in schools as well, we would still be facing unsurmountable difficulties in trying to save our languages. Unless, thereafter, we put concrete barriers between regions or prohibit migration of Tagalog speakers to our provinces for at least half a century . The Tagalization of the Philippines since the 1930's has taken its toll and can not right away be obliterated.
The reason? Well, because of the status quo. By this time are there still Filipinos that can't read, write and speak in Tagalog? If all Filipinos can now communicate with one another in Tagalog, then all the other languages are doomed into extinction, some soon and some later, it's just a matter of time. For how can any indigenous language understood only in its region be able to compete for survival with one that is nationally understood? Like I said in my previous message: People from Ilocandia, Pangasinan, Pampanga, Calabarzon, Bicolandia, Samar and Panay would no longer try to learn Cebuano if ever they settle permanently in Cebu. They would all just use the Tagalog they know. So, such migration does not help increase the Cebuano-speaking population. Now let's look at it the other way. When people from Cebu go to the aforementioned provinces and regions, they will also be subjected to the same condition which is not to learn the languages of the people there, but just use Tagalog since they already know it. My point here is, whether the Cebuano is the host of settlers in his province or is the migrant that settled in another region, it won't be his language that would be gaining speakers but Tagalog! In the analogy I had in my other message, I wrote: Having Tagalog and your own language spoken at home by everybody in the family makes every member a bi-lingual person. But this can be observed only during that particular generation. The next generation will see a drastic change on language knowledge as only one of the two will remain in use. Whichever is the one widely used would remain standing, as the minor one is dropped. The pairing of such languages would be akin to putting together a serpent and a cat. The
cat can probably kill the serpent if it were not for the latter''s venom which makes it powerful. So, the two should never be put together in a cage. Tagalog and Cebuano, or Tagalog and any other native language for that matter, should not be put together
as languages in a family. It will be a survival of the fittest. One would for sure kill the other. |
